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Source:The Gathering Storm Book Tour, New York City, 9 November 2009 - WinespringBrother reporting
'The Gathering Storm Book Tour, New York City, 9 November 2009' ''Report by WinespringBrother '' I had a great time, started out meeting my fellow storm leaders at Tor. The reception area had shelves full of books and the person who we met there, Paul (who was also at JordanCon) invited us to take (almost) any books we wanted. Unfortunately, I did not have a lot of storage space to carry books, so ended up taking 1 hardcover, Ender's Game, but that was very cool. We then went to a Tor office party and chatted with everyone there, including Tom Doherty, before our private dinner with Brandon, Harriet and Maria. I didn't get to ask a lot of questions, however. I did ask about the so-called mistake with Harine and the cleansing, and Brandon confirmed that Harine was basically being cautious when speaking to Rand, and didn't want to get caught between Rand and the Wavemistresses. Also, I asked a follow up question about the big clue in books 4-6, asking if the clue became more relevant due to events in the later books, and he said that it didn't, and that it's something we should have picked up on when it appeared. He also issued a caveat (that is basically common sense) that it is possible someone discussed this issue at some point on one of the boards and that he didn't see that, but that he has never seen it raised in his lurkings, and that this issue is more important than who killed you-know-who. I also asked if the Tinkers have their own set of prophecies and he said that if they did, we would know about it by now. Now, that's an Aes Sedai answer LOL At the signing, I had a recorder going at his table, which I haven't had a chance to listen to yet. I was mostly taking pictures and videos, handing out bookmarks to the crowd of about 250 people, and talking to Maria, who said that she has the best job in the world, and I would certainly not disagree. She also answered a few questions as follows: about symbology, she said that RJ had some notes on that, and that the posts on 13th depository are pretty accurate regarding this. About Gawyn's duel with Sleete, and the usage of real swords, she said she would have to look into that, since I had believed that normally practice swords are used. She said that perhaps sometimes they have to use real swords to keep their edge, so to speak, but will look into that. She RAFO'd me when I asked if the Towers of Midnight are dungeons. I will do a more complete write up for my Dragonmount.com report later today, after I go through the recordings. URL for report: http://www.theoryland.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2596 --- ''Additional comments from Storm Leader dinner: '' Here are my transcribed notes from our dinner with Brandon, Harriet, Maria and NY Storm Leaders: 1. Brandon talked about a non-photoshopped picture of a sword stabbing through a bunch of WOT books in a magazine I don't remember the name of. 2. Brandon twittered about Leigh forgetting the signing. 3. Defines MAFO - Maria and Find Out. 4. States he did not see Guys and Dolls, responding to a question about something similar in TGS that I did not quite catch in one of the chapters with Mat. A blank die? 5. Stated that the Ajah Heads in the WT conspired to send sitters to Salidar who would speed up reconciliation, but not draw suspicion due to being supporters of Elaida previously. They chose young Sitters in the Tower as placeholders. However some of the Sitters who left the Tower went of their own accord. 6. The Ajah Heads for the reunited Ajahs will likely be the ones who led their Ajahs before the split. Will be determined quietly and is Ajah business only. 7. I asked if there any Tinker prophecies about the Dragon and he replied that if there were, we would have seen them already. 8. The Dragon on the gate at Harriet and Jim's home was there after it appeared in the books, and the books were given to the carver for a template. 9. Harriet got her WOT jewelry from Badali Jewelers in Salt Lake City, the same firm that also does Brandon's items for Mistborn (even before he signed up for WOT). 10. Harine's supposed mistake, mentioned earlier in thread. 11. Will we see Dragons in the books. Brandon mentions Aludra's cannons. My speculation is that they are the basis of the legends. 12. Will we see more of Harine? Yes, and Rand was not keeping to his side of their bargain very well. 13. Brandon's hook for reading WOT as a teenager was the hero's journey, but his tastes evolved since then, from growing up and becoming a parent. He enjoyed the EOTW prologue greatly since it was not long and drawn out like many fantasy prologues. What kept him engrossed was the depth of world building and embedded secrets. 14. Leigh shows up. 15. Brandon said he loves the process of writing and that he would write a book a year for his whole life, even if none were ever published. He has all his unpublished manuscripts and didn't realize how bad he was before. He was in his early 20's and able to learn and practice to better his craft. He wasn't confident enough to submit his first 5 books, but the 6th was published (Elantris) though it took a few years. He had an advantage over other new writers from all his practice. He compared "getting it right" for Elantris to getting a hole-in-one in golf - part skill, part accident. Mistborn was his 14th novel. He said he avoids reviews unless they are starred since a bad review can spoil his day and when he is feeling down he looks at bad reviews of works he enjoyed, like Pratchett's works, Watchmen, and Hamlet. He also avoided seeing the Watchmen movie, since it would be ruined if they changed it, or the same as the book if they didn't change it, and he didn't really want to see Dr. Manhattan in full IMAX glory. 16. He agrees with fans who criticize that he isn't Robert Jordan, but hopes they will get past their anger at that fact. Also feels that the series belongs to the fans. He is happy with how TGS turned out. 17. Harriet said they should put Leigh's review on the back of the paperback edition, and Leigh double-dog dared her to have that done 18. Harriet talked about a review that bashed TGS for too much time emphasizing minor characters. 19. Brandon spoke of his creative freedom in writing, and filling in blanks or making choices that Jim left for the story, but wanted to include everything that Jim wrote as completely as possible. Instead of giving a % of how much was Brandon's, he said it was 100% Brandon and 100% Jim since they both put their all into the book, and all that Brandon wrote was inspired by the previous books, and that Jim dictated, even from his deathbed, because of his passion for the story and the fans. That is just amazing to me, beyond what words can describe. 20. Harriet will decide after all the books are out about outriggers and prequels. 21. They are already working on the Encyclopedia and may or may not have an electronic version (currently no plans for one, but I asked about it and its not ruled out). 22. The timeline is in a spreadsheet but it will likely not be published since it is very rough and Jim did not like his unfinished works published. 23. Brandon is concerned about the HCFF's digging and digging for the surprise in books 4-6 and ruining it for TOM. Also, he stated he never read anyone discussing it but it is possible someone has. Also, it is some puzzle that should have been looked at when it was first revealed. It's bigger than who killed Asmodean, according to Brandon. 24. The beggar prophecy was fulfilled when Rand went to Ebou Dar, as well as the one about the bandages over his eyes. 25. Brandon thought the ending of the series was right and satisfying to the promise of all the books. The first time he used the internet was to go to rec.arts.jordan. 26. Harriet said Jim was surprised by the fandom for the series and that he thought it was egotistical to do readings from the books. He loved using the pseudonym since it helped him keep a low profile, and would talk to some local shopkeeper who asked if he was still writing LOL and he would say, Yeah, I made the Times list! more to come from the Q&A URL for these comments: http://www.theoryland.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73837#poststop Category:Interaction with Fans Category:Reports from Fans